Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to another edition of Weekly Well-Being. I'm running all over the place today, so we'll skip intros and get right to main topics...
"True Health Care Reform"

I was browsing the social networking sites recently and stumbled across the following quote from a medical doctor:

"Regular utilization of Chiropractors as primary care physicians reduces the need for hospitalization by 60.2%, hospital days by 59%, pharmaceutical usage by 85%, outpatient surgeries and procedures by 62% and overall global health care costs by more than 50%." Chiropractors could single-handedly solve the health care crisis."
-Richard Sarnat, M.D.

Skepticism

You know, when I first started in chiropractic school, there was a doctor/professor who told me that chiropractic helps people with more than just back and neck pain. My first reaction was to be skeptical. The chiropractor I had seen for years - who helped me overcome the two aforementioned pain types naturally - never told me anything like that. In fact, he'd even - in a round about way - told me that such a notion was worth laughing at. So, naturally, I wasn't buy it. To his credit, the doctor/professor made a convincing argument - convincing enough that I read a book about chiropractic philosophy. Through that book, I started changing my perception to at least accept the possibility that moving bones in the spine might be able to help people with conditions more commonly seen by medical doctors and treated with drugs.

As my doctoral education continued, there were a lot of contradicting arguments being made about chiropractic. Some of the most scholarly of scholars would proudly announce pain as the only thing we can help with, denouncing what were apparently the roots of chiropractic, which were based on helping people with every "medical" condition under the sun. You'd have one doctor telling you about how the founder of the Mayo clinic brought his wife to the developer of chiropractic's clinic/research center - this was after Mrs. Mayo was seemingly headed for death and no medical procedure could help; she got an upper cervical correction, held it, and got her health back. Then, later in the day, you'd have another doctor telling you that it was all hogwash - pain is the name of the game and nothing else. Much like any other pig headed, closed minded person, these "haters" ignored all the clinical results and cried "No research! Where's the research!" When the 2008 Chicago Medical Center blood pressure study was featured on "Good Morning, America," showcasing upper cervical's 100% success rate in lowering blood pressure an average of 17 points - a drop that takes 2 meds to achieve - the same "haters" cried "Not enough research! More research!"

Without a doubt, the side that the "haters" argue is much more commonly accepted. Frankly, hearing such impassioned doctors arguing for chiropractic as a primary approach to health and then hearing people beating the dead horse that is the current position of chiropractic within our society (pain only) was confusing...as I'm sure it is for those of you that hear about Upper Cervical after years of over 40% of the ads you see and hear being all about "drugs, drugs, drugs!" Not surprisingly, I remained skeptical. It all sounded great that you could help someone with asthma - just to name a condition - by adjusting the spine. Yet, I did not understand HOW. I mean, these little tiny nerves being pinched or something along those lines? None of it really made sense to me.

And then a doctor took the time to explain to me the concept of Upper Cervical Care - that the brainstem and the bones that protect it are in a delicate alignment...and that proper alignment need be maintained to prevent irritation to the brainstem. Considering that the brainstem is the origination for nearly every nerve in the body and that it is the thickest part of the spinal cord, it made sense to me that it could become irritated since it rests in the most narrow part of the spinal column (the bones). That made sense. As I learned more and more about how the body works, I came to the conclusion that Upper Cervical care is very legitimate. After spending time in the offices of Upper Cervical Doctors, I came to the conclusion that Upper Cervical care is the best kept secret in health care.

So, I understand the skepticism...I really do; I've been there. I have no doubt, though, that after you do the research - you'll come to the same conclusions that I did.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Last week, I went into some detail about how the digestive system works and began the process of relating to you that - because the brainstem controls the digestive system - upper cervical care can help restore your normal digestive function and knock out (so to speak) many digestive problems. So, let's talk about IBS - irritable bowel.

Let's say that it's a nice, hot summer day. You are outside relaxing, maybe having a good conversation. A mosquito shows up and lands on your arm. It doesn't bother you much, at first. You swat it away. Then, it comes back. Still not bothering you much, but beginning to notice it to the point that it's affecting your conversation a little bit. You swat it away again. Then another couple of mosquitoes show up...and then a few more. Eventually, your nice relaxing conversation is gone and you are standing there throwing your arms every which way trying to ward of the bugs. GOOD LORD! That is irritating, isn't it?!

Well, let's say that at some point in your life, something happens to throw off that delicate alignment between your head and neck - any number of events can cause it. That top bone in the neck (that protects the brainstem) misaligns ever so slightly, irritating the brainstem. It doesn't bother you much, at first - maybe not even to the point that you notice. Then maybe you bang your head on the cabinet and the irritation gets a little worse. Still not bothering you much, but beginning to notice it to the point that it's affecting your digestive system a little bit. Maybe your system starts reacting differently to foods that you used to eat that had never previously bothered. Then maybe you trip and fall and the irritation gets even worse...and then another little dust up. Eventually, your digestive system is going haywire all the time and it changes your life. Good Lord...how irritating is that?

The lesson to be learned is that irritating the brainstem can irritate the digestive system, causing it overreact constantly. Removing that irritation to the brainstem that controls the digestive system can calm down the once overactive digestive tract.


Thinking good things for you, as always,

Dr. Chad